The bionomics of Ceramius caucasicus André was studied over a period of 14 days in the vicinity of Erzurum, East Anatolia. Following the concept of Gess and Gess (1988) the nesting and flower association of Ceramius caucasicus can be characterised by the following ethological elements: a. Nest excavated in clayey but quite crumbly soil; b. Burrow surmounted by a turret constructed using mud extracted from within the burrow; c. Re-use of nest unknown; d. Nest with a relatively short, vertical to sub-vertical main shaft; e. Main shaft continues into an oblique to subhorizontal secondary shaft terminated by a cell; f. Existence and form of further secondary shafts unknown; g. Cells sub-horizontal; h. No constructed mud-cell within an excavated-cell; i. Pollen of cell provision, Campanulaceae and Lamiaceae. Pollen of Campanulaceae and Lamiaceae is also present in the alimentary tract of males and females. Furthermore, the alimentary tract of males contains pollen of Resedaceae, Fabaceae and Dipsacaceae in lower proportions. Foraging males also visit Papaveraceae. Water is used to soften the soil. Females visit water collection sites. During water uptake they stand on wet ground, on or in dense vegetation or on soil covered by a thin film of water. Mating occurs at water collection sites and at flowers. Males and females mate repeatedly. Copulation lasts much longer than in the sister species. Females seem to avoid males. Activity at water collection sites indicates proterandry.

The discovery of an eclosed egg of the Old World Dioxys cincta (Jurine) attached to the brood cell wall of Osmia (Osmia) cerinthidis Morawitz indicates that the female of the cleptoparasite deposited her egg before the host female closed the cell. This contrasts with previously published information concerning the North American Dioxys pomonae Cockerell, which deposited her eggs in the cells of Osmia (Acanthosmioides) nigrobarbata Cockerell after the host female had oviposited and closed the cell (J.G. Rozen, Jr., and M.S. Favreau. 1967. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 75:197–203). Such a change in the mode of cleptoparasitism within a single evolutionary lineage is an uncommon phenomenon among cleptoparasitic bees and invites biogeographic speculation on the oviposition habits of other Dioxyini.

The brood cells of Osmia cerinthidis were constructed in the vacated brood cells of Anthophora (Anthophora) fulvitarsis Brullé and A. (Melea) plagiata (Illiger).

A survey of the bee species and their ornamental host flowers that occur in residential neighborhoods of the cities of Albany and adjacent Berkeley in northern California was conducted from 1999–2003. A simple bee frequency (visitation) count was developed to evaluate the relative attraction of bees to their host flowers. Results of the survey revealed that 76 species of bees, mostly natives, from five families, visited 129 host plants at measurable levels. The most common host plant families were Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Polygonaceae, Rosaceae, and Scrophulariaceae. Honey bees and all other bee taxa were recorded separately on host plants, and both bee groups were more attracted to California native plants than exotics on a percentage basis.

Variable attraction was recorded within native and exotic host plants, and a large part of this variation appears related to where the plants are found in residential areas. In general, the highest bee diversity and abundance was observed in diverse gardens having a high number of bee-attractive plants flowering at the same time. Ground nesting by several species was also noted in diverse and other garden sites. Overall, many bee species seem pre-adapted to use extant urban resources for forage, reproduction and survival in residential areas of these two California cities.

Two species of milkweed (Asclepiadaceae) are especially abundant in portions of eastern North America. Common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca L., is most abundant in the northern United States and southeastern Canada, while honeyvine milkweed, Cynanchum laeve (Michaux), is most abundant at central latitudes in the eastern half of the United States. The former is frequently cited as an important host plant for larvae of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus L. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), while the latter is rarely mentioned in this regard. We compared the performance of monarch larvae on these two plant species. Larvae developed significantly faster on honeyvine milkweed than on common milkweed. Average pupal fresh weights appeared to be slightly greater for individuals reared on common milkweed than those reared on honeyvine milkweed, but the difference was not statistically significant. Similarly, larval survival was about 14% higher on common milkweed, but the difference was not significant. Our results indicate that both common milkweed and honeyvine milkweed are suitable hosts for monarch larvae. Given the abundance of honeyvine milkweed in the east-central United States, this species may be a more important host plant for the monarch than has been generally recognized.

The greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), is a major pest of wheat in North America, reducing U.S. wheat production by $60 to $100 million each year. Experiments were conducted to determine the categories of resistance to greenbug biotype I controlled by two different resistance genes in wheat germplasm lines ‘KS89WGRC4’, containing the Gbx gene, and ‘Sando's 4040’, containing the Gby gene. Antixenosis (non-preference), antibiosis (lowered greenbug intrinsic rate of increase) and tolerance (reduced plant tissue and chlorophyll loss) assays were conducted using plants of Sando's 4040, KS89WGRC4, ‘Jagger’ (susceptible control), ‘Largo’ (antibiosis control), and ‘TA1675’ (tolerance control). Neither Sando's 4040, KS89WGRC4 nor the controls exhibited antixenosis to greenbug biotype I. There was an antibiotic effect on the greenbugs confined to Sando's 4040 (r_m = 0.122), that was no different than the r_m of aphids on the resistant control, Largo (r_m = 0.144). Antibiosis was not present in KS89WGRC4. Both Sando's 4040 and KS89WGRC4 exhibited tolerance to greenbug biotype I feeding damage, based on measurements of proportional dry plant tissue weight change and leaf chlorophyll loss. Sando's 4040 and KS89WGRC4 provide useful new sources of resistance to greenbugs for wheat breeding programs.

Late instar larvae of Cafius histrio (Sharp), C. mimulus (Sharp) and C. rufescens Sharp are described for the first time in Korea. Partial cytochrome oxidase II gene sequences (396 bp) of adults and larvae for each species were compared to confirm the conspecificity of the larvae and adults of each individual species. Diagnostic characters are provided for separation of the known species of Cafius Curtis in Korea and illustrations of diagnostic features are presented.

A new species of ericrocidine bee (Apidae: Apinae), Ctenioschelus chalcodes is described from northwestern Costa Rica. The male is easily recognized by its unclubbed flagellar segments and bronze-like color of the metasoma lacking the blue to violet reflections typical for C. goryi (Romand, 1840). Although there has been intensive collecting in at least some parts of the Costa Rican dry forest during the past three decades, only one male individual is known so far. This suggests that, at least in Costa Rica, the species is rare or very restricted in its range.

Key diagnostic morphological features for identifying Reticulitermes flavipes, R. virginicus, R. tibialis, and R. hageni collected in Oklahoma were identified and compared. Stepwise principle component analysis identified nine features useful for species determination. These features successfully identified 100% of R. tibialis and R. hageni specimens. However, fourteen soldier features for R. flavipes and R. virginicus, including pronotum width, showed interspecific overlap. Among soldiers whose species identification was confirmed with alates, the ratio of soldier head capsule length without mandibles to head capsule width separated these two species. Analysis of multiple features identified five discriminant factors that are useful in separating these two sympatric species, resulting in 88.89% and 82.61% correct identification of R. flavipes and R. virginicus, respectively. Correct species identification based on both soldiers and alates provides the most reliable identifications.

Distributions of 20 species of Pyramica (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Dacetini) in Mississippi are reported. This list includes six new state records including Pyramica bimarginata (Wesson & Wesson), P. metazytes Bolton, P. ohioensis (Kennedy & Schramm), P. reflexa (Wesson & Wesson), P. talpa (Weber), and one introduced species, Pyramica hexamera (Brown), previously reported from Florida and Louisiana. In addition, records are provided for three rarely collected species, P. angulata (M. R. Smith), P. hyalina Bolton, and P. rohweri (M. R. Smith).

Early studies of Atta nest founding showed that gynes exhibit claustral nest foundation, cultivate fungal gardens with fecal secretions, and nourish their larvae with eggs. These studies also showed that gynes sometimes lose their fungal pellets, or the fungal garden fails before workers emerge, apparently dooming the incipient colony. Here we report that Atta colombica foundresses maintained in the laboratory can produce workers even though they lack fungal pellets to initiate gardens. If such behavior occurs in nature, it raises the possibility that workers might re-acquire a fungal symbiont after nest establishment, and potentially rescue failing colonies.